Dane Cook

State of the Art

by Nick A. Zaino III

Stand-up comics often dream of their first big break in Hollywood. Dane Cook, who'll be at the Comedy Connection this weekend, did. And then, shortly after moving to LA in 1997, he was offered a co-starring role in a genuine feature film -- last year's Simon Sez, with Dennis Rodman. "Let me put it to you this way," says Cook, from his office in LA. "I went and saw it in the theater, and I walked out."

Cook's welcome to Hollywood may have been disappointing, but he chalked it up to experience and moved on. When things move as quickly as they do for Cook, you can can do that.

He got his start, while still in high school, at the old Catch a Rising Star in Harvard Square; after hanging around for a few months, he made it on stage when another comedian didn't show for a new-talent showcase hosted by David Cross (later of HBO's Mr. Show). He killed, and he was hooked. "I couldn't sleep for like, three days. My foot was wiggling in bed, and I was like, `Wow, that got a laugh, and that got a laugh.' "

After playing clubs both on his own and with a local sketch group, Cook went to Caroline's in New York City, ostensibly to make a demo tape of his work. And that's where every stand-up comic's dream began to come true for him. "MTV and ABC had been in the crowd. A week later, I was living in New York signed to a deal with ABC. I'd gone from living at home with my mother to living in the Upper West Side of New York, making a development deal with ABC, and doing a pilot."

That would be the mid-season replacement Pranks, which Cook describes as a cross between The Tom Green Show and Candid Camera. Shortly thereafter, he ditched the pilot deal to move to San Francisco. He had barely settled there when he was tapped for a part in Maybe This Time, a sit-com with Betty White and Marie Osmond, and he moved to Los Angeles. The show flopped, Simon Sez floundered, and his role as the Waffler in Mystery Men didn't turn any heads. Still, Cook hasn't let his experience go to waste. Recently he's been writing, directing, and starring in short films for festivals. His first short, "Spiral," allowed him to stretch his skills while playing a delusional out-of-work actor. "Yeah, that helped to kind of put me in another light. That was an amazing few days of filming for me. It affected people, it affected my life, so I want to do more of that."

In the meantime, Cook has been on stage as often as five times a week, honing his stand-up skills to bleeding-edge sharpness. Even the hard-to-please audience at last year's "Comics Come Home" benefit -- which heckled Janeane Garofalo mercilessly, until host Denis Leary threatened to send former Bruin Cam Neely into the crowd to keep everyone in line -- was seduced by his exuberant wit. Cook strode confidently onto the stage, screaming "yes!" and pointing out at the audience. He then skipped, romped, and drop-kicked his way through his material. For his finale, he ripped off his shirt and pants and prowled the front of the stage, staring down the crowd. In short, he stole the show. "When I step on the stage, and I'm front of lights, something from me takes over and I get so excited. I may come off and be exhausted, but when I'm out there, something kicks in, man."

Dane Cook will appear at the Comedy Connection in Faneuil Hall June 30 and July 1 and 2. Call 248-9700. "Spiral" is available at www.danecook.com.